The Sunday Best (2/12/2017)

The Sunday Best is a collection of a handful of posts I share with you each week. With so many informative and inspirational writers out there, I have no trouble coming up with a number of worthwhile reads each week.

Every featured post should be of interest to any physician seeking financial independence. Some will be written by your physician colleagues; others will be written by our friends and patients who share common goals and interests.

Family Tree DNA & Spice Trading

My wife and I decided it would be fun to learn a little more about our ancestry. After $59 each, a swabbing of the inner cheek, and about a month’s time, I learned that my parents are who we thought they were. Scandinavians.

No big surprise there. Apparently my DNA is 52% Scandinavian and according to Family Tree DNA, I’m related by blood to people with awesome surnames like Åkesdotter, Bjørnsdatter, Ellström, and Axelsson.

The results were not entirely without surprise, however. I guess I’m 8% middle eastern, represented by the green glow over Turkey. Who knew? I certainly didn’t. Perhaps my ancestors did a little “spice trading” in that part of the world, if you know what I mean (and I think you do).

The results just came in, and I haven’t had a lot of time to play with the data, but there are a number of tools available to explore common ancestors and build your family tree. If only I had more time. Soon enough, I imagine I will.

Have you submitted your saliva to a similar service? What did you learn?

32 comments

Thanks for the feature, PoF! I have never submitted a saliva test, but it would be interesting to do so. Sometimes, you wonder if there are other ethnicities in your ancestry other than the one you identify with.

It’s interesting to see some posts lately about the “downside” of early retirement. Having retired a couple years ago at 44, I can say for sure there were some extra challenges. Not even talking about money-related challenges – life, identity, activity, and similar challenges. Early retired people definitely need to figure things out and develop a good routine. Sitting and staring at walls (or TV) for 50+ years is not a good way to live out ones life. 🙂

Thanks for the shout-out PoF! If that $200K was all under my control, I think it would be an easier decision. When it takes 30 years to actually earn it – it’s another story. Luckily, I still have a couple of weeks to sort it all out. Have a great week!

The prices have really come down in recent years. I don’t think I would have spent a couple hundred dollars to satisfy a curiosity, but $59 is the price of a meal at a fancy restaurant, a price I’m willing to pay to explore my ancestry.

I haven’t submitted my saliva, though my guess would be a strong representation in Northern Europe (France, Germany, Poland). My great grandparents came over to the US from Poland. It would be very interesting to see the results!

PoF, my wife just submitted her sample back to ancestry.com yesterday. Their test is a little different as you submit a small vile of saliva vs. swabbing. We’re eager to see the results! I’ll think I will do mine soon too and see if there was any “spice trading” along the line. 😉

How cool! I think it took about a month, so I wouldn’t be waiting with bated breath, but it will be fun to see. I wonder if your wife will get a discount code to share when her results are in. The price was right when we did ours (my wife did hers, too).

I do think those ancestry services are cool. 🙂 I haven’t personally done one because they often have clauses that they can store your DNA “indefinitely,” which freaks me out a bit.

My sister got hers done, however, and it was a little funny. We’re mostly Scandinavian/Irish/Iberian, with a little bit of Asian thrown in there. The Asian bit wasn’t a surprise since our family history was recorded and I found our ancestor in the 1800s married a woman from China. 🙂 However! I was definitely surprised because my family swore up and down that we have Native American heritage. The test didn’t show an ounce of Native blood, so that was funny. Oh well!

Thanks, Doc! I think this is the first time I’ve posted an article from the Onion, but I’ve been a fan for 20+ years, going back to the days when it was in print only. The article came across my feed and was too good to pass up.

I did the DNA testing last year. I was a little scared about what I might learn (i.e. I’m predisposed to a certain disease or something like that). My doc recommended it to get a better handle on digestive issues. We learned several things that have helped with treatment, and on top of that it’s just interesting to review your building blocks.

OMG, my mom always told us about our great grandmothers rescue from the trail of tears, and her marriage to our great grandpa, and how we’re part Cherokee and on and on. Well her dad could trace his lineage back to Galway county, Ireland and could link some German roots there too, but that trail grew cold quickly.

However, when she did the DNA sample, no Cherokee, no nothing but typical American mutt. Irish, German, English, yep, that’s me, lol. Nothing exotic at all. I burn easily, have a red beard, and brown hair everywhere else, lol. High cheekbones aren’t from the Cherokee side of the family, bwahahaha.

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